AdvoCat News 2010 09

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International Tiger Day is Sunday, Sept. 26. How will you be celebrating tigers on that day?

I just got off the phone with another T.V. Producer who wants to do a series on the subject of dangerous wild animals being kept in basements and back yards and what happens to them when they outgrow their usefulness as money making props that are used for photo opportunities in malls, fairs and roadside zoos. I have been getting at least one such call a month since late last year and while I can’t reveal who the producers are, I can say that a number of them have been very impressive people who have a lot of experience under their belts.

With this many producers looking into the industry that uses baby lions and tigers for pay to play schemes, and all of the assets they bring to expose the problem, including privately owned and outfitted planes for transporting big cats, helicopters and mini choppers for reconnaissance and the big names of celebrities who are participating as both hosts and sponsors, I believe we may see Hollywood turn the situation upside down.

The television industry has been fraught with abuse in its desire to appeal to a nature starved public with shows like Flipper, Daktari, Second Hand Lions and such. Now those same resources are gathering to expose the people who produce cubs for use in these kinds of shows and for even less noble purposes.

Big Cat Rescue is providing statistics and background on the abusers to all of these producers and hopefully one or all of them will come out with some great shows that educate the public about how their actions can cause abuse or can end it. In this issue of the AdvoCat we make it easy for you to help end the abuse in several cases.

Fur Ball Ticket Sales Ahead of Last Year

If you were thinking you’d wait to buy your Fur Ball tickets, you could be too late. We have already sold more tickets this year, 17 days out from Fur Ball, than we did by the end of the evening last year. ABC is one of our major media sponsors and this photo is from one of the segments they did to promote the Fur Ball. (airs today 9/21 12:45 noon) Other major media sponsors are Cox Radio including six of their local stations, Accent on Tampabay, Tampabay Business Journal and Tampabay Magazine. They are joined by American Momentum, Heart Construction & Jaguar of Tampa, our King of Beast sponsors.

Can’t come to the ball? You can still bid on this painting done by Bella the Tiger here: http://item.ebay.com/390242406457

The Bucs are Winning! You can Win Luxurious Club Seats!

The Bucs are on a roll, winning their first two games. Thanks to a generous donor we have two tickets for luxurious Club Seats for each of the next three home games, Sept 26, Oct 17, Oct 24. If you purchase raffle tickets, your tickets stay in the drawing for each game. These padded seats with access to the Club Lounge were originally $590 per pair. To purchase tickets https://bigcatrescue.org/raffle.htm

Update on Sick Cats

Takoma‘s blood work continues to look worse and worse, despite the fact that he looks great and acts like he feels pretty good. He has moved back outside and has completed his series of fluids therapy, but is still on meds and still wobbly. He enjoys his caretakers’ attentions and being next to his old crew, so he is as happy as can be expected for now.

Andi bobcat and her sister got into a fuss and Andi spent time recovering from some bite wounds in the West-Boensche Cat Hospital. She had to wear an E Collar so that she didn’t chew out the drain that was installed to help her heal, and she really hated it, but now it’s off. Since she has always had lion and tiger neighbors, we moved her out into the old jaguar cage in tiger row. There are empty cages on either side of her so she has quite a bit of distance between her and the old tigers who live out there. This will give her time to settle in and she is healing well.

At only 6 months old and quite unexpectedly, Storm the baby rehab bobcat has passed away. His necropsy report indicates that his cause of death was congenital heart trouble (a birth defect.) He never had a sick day in his short life and died in his sleep. Though he was so young, his loss is still extremely hard for us. As Jamie Veronica, President of Big Cat Rescue recounts about his passing, “An image of him as a baby flashed through my mind, a memory so clear… You can read more about him and see tributes to him here:

Big Cat Victories

Fox Penning Outlawed in FL. Thanks to all of your letters and everyone who showed up in person, the practice of turning packs of dogs loose to kill bobcats, foxes and coyotes in fenced areas has been outlawed in Florida. At the September 1, 2010 animal lovers outnumbered animal abusers 6 to 1.

Germany June 17, 2010: The zoo director and three of the staff at the Magdeburg Zoo were convicted of cruelty to animals for killing three tiger cubs who were the result of cross breeding tigers at the zoo. The zoo had bred a Siberian tiger to a Sumatran tiger. All of the tigers in the U.S. that are referred to as Bengal tigers are actually hybrids of Bengal and Siberian tigers as the result of the white tiger craze when Bengal tigers were inbred to the point of non existence in America. A fine of 8,000 euros was suspended upon the condition that the zoo not kill cubs as the result of their own improper breeding plans. The Magdeburg zoo case drew attention to the common practice of zoos breeding and killing animals to keep youngsters on exhibit.

This AdvoCat Really Gets the Big Picture

Hindy Pearson has been working in the animal welfare field for 11 years. She owned a pet sitting business and advised prospective pet owners on the best animals to suit their lifestyles. She spent three years in England and had the opportunity to work as a campaigns officer for a farm animal welfare organization that campaigned for the humane treatment of animals raised for food. She currently volunteers at a shelter where she walks the senior dogs.

After a tour of Big Cat Rescue with Jeff Kremer, Hindy wrote an excellent article about how education and legislation are the way to save animals. Read it here.

If you like our videos be sure to subscribe to them on iTunes and give us a nice rating there so that others can find us too! Carry us in your pocket on your iPhone or iPad.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-cat-rescue/id284875889

Fundraiser Anyone Can Do

Big Cat Rescue’s Online Fundraising Campaign has just kicked off and your participation is the key to our success!

You can help by inviting your friends and family to shop at our online magazine store. They can choose from over 650 magazine subscriptions at up to 85% savings, and Big Cat Rescue will get up to 40% of each purchase amount!

Magazines are a great gift idea!

And you can get great prizes too! When you invite 12 people and sell one magazine subscription, you get a FREE movie ticket redeemable online!
And for a limited time, there are monthly $200 cash prizes to be given away to top sellers!

Compassion in Fashion Week

With the arrival of Fashion Week in New York came the publishing of an ad that was shocking because of a famous celebrity’s nudity, as well as the props she used. Bulgari’s latest marketing campaign features actress Julianne Moore lying naked showcasing their handbags. But, in case that wasn’t eye-catching enough, they threw in 2 baby lions to grab the consumer’s attention. We immediately sent out a plea to our supporters to write and educate Bulgari about the sad reality of what is in store for these cubs when their short shelf life as a photo prop expires. Bulgari responded to everyone with the same automated response:

“The cubs in the ad campaign came from trustworthy sources – natural animal parks based in the USA and managed by nature lovers. They were treated with the utmost attention on the set, beyond the mere respect of the law, and under the supervision of the local authorities in charge of the control of exotic animals.”

Bulgari doesn’t seem to understand the big picture. Their use of these cubs for one day will result in a lifetime of misery, or even death, for them – and many more yet to be born. Is a designer handbag worth that price? Please go to the petition site we’ve set up at:

Churches Breaking Wild Animal Laws

It is all over YouTube and Facebook so you may have heard about it by now. There are a series of Sunday sermons, called “Wild,” by Pastor Troy Gramling at Flamingo Road Church in Cooper City, Florida. The first such event took place this past Sunday, September 12th, 2010. In it there was a chained, five hundred pound lion on stage, pacing around his tiny cage. Pastor Gramling was quoting scripture, comparing the lion to Satan.

We have identified the source of the lion and other imprisoned animals to be used in this series, as Predators Unlimited, in Homestead, Florida. The owner’s name is Jeremy Possman.

Stop Tiger Cub Pimps

We were disappointed to see Petsmart, a corporation that doesn’t support puppy/kitten mills, fall for a publicity stunt to promote pay to play encounters with a white tiger cub this week in Wesley Chapel, FL.

If Petsmart is unaware of the truth behind this form of animal abuse, then you might know people who are being misled too. See why this cub is dying to be held and what you can do about it.

Pardon Our Cyber Dust

In late July we launched our new, interactive website at BigCatRescue.org but there were some glitches in the way the pages were interlinked, so we took it down and have put our old site back up, with a few cosmetic changes. We are still working to get the new site published, but ask that you bear with us during the transition. When it goes live it could be down for a couple of days altogether, but we are still busy saving lives.

In fact, here is a two year recap on some of the work we have done outside of Florida that saves big cats worldwide:

A wonderful way to support the cats at no cost to you is to go to your Amazon.com account and sign up for Amazon Smile to have .5% of your purchases donated to Big Cat Rescue.

Cat Quiz

Help Feed Big Cats

One of the best ways to help is through general donations that can be used however it is most needed at the time.To make a general donation just click the Donate Now button below. This is the best way to give as it has the lowest credit card processing fees and is immediate help for the cats.

Big Cat Rescue is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, FEID 59-3330495. Florida law requires that all charities soliciting donations disclose their registration number and the percentage of your donation that goes to the cause and the amount that goes to the solicitor. We do not utilize professional solicitors, so 0% of your donation goes to a professional solicitor, 100% goes to Big Cat Rescue. Non-program expenses are funded from tour income, so 100% of your donations go to supporting the cats and stopping the abuse.A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR BIG CAT RESCUE, A FL-BASED NONPROFIT CORPORATION (REGISTRATION NO. CH 11409), MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE 1-800-435-7352 WITHIN THE STATE OR BY VISITING www.800helpfla.com. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.